Rating: 
Summary: I didn't know Sandler had it in him
Review: This was a surprise movie... at least for me. I'd only seen Adam Sandler being a total goof-off. he did a fabulous job of portraying this poor, mixed up character trying to find his way. I felt such sympathy for him. His sisters gave good performances as well. Just a well-done movie. Worth seeing.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe the people who are bashing this.
Review: I'm getting tired of the mindless morons who keep bashing this movie. I'm going to make a few things clear. Listen: If your brand of humor survives mainly on fart jokes, crap humor, and "Jackass" style hijinks, then you need to skip this film. You seriously lack the intellect to handle it. I can't stand how people are being totally close-minded about this wonderful film. This is NOT your normal Sandler film (he proves that he actually CAN act) so if that statement scares you, stay away from this film. If your favorite movie is "Road House," stay away from this film. If you're an all-American, rebel flag waving sort, stay away from this film. If you HAVE to have a "plot" to go along with your movies to keep you on track, stay away from this film. If you're looking for the cliched and overdone happy ending were everything is resolved and you're happy because you've had everything spoon-fed to you, stay away from this film. If you watched "American Beauty" and the ever present scenes of floating rose petals confused the heck out of you, stay away from this film. If you watched "Magnolia" and couldn't get past the "frog storm" because you thought it was stupid, stay away from this film. If you like Chuck Norris, stay away from this film. If you think Steven Seagal is one of the best actors of our time, stay away from this film. If you're pride and joy happens to be your brand new Ford pick up sittin' all nice and pretty in the driveway at home, stay away from this film. If you pronounce "Chocolat" and "chowclit!", stay away from this film. If you're dog's name happens to be Rufus, Cletis, Bosco, or Chopper - STAY AWAY FROM THIS FILM! Okay?! Just stay far away and rent "Missing in Action" or "Kindergarten Cop". STAY AWAY! For all of the other people out there who enjoy REAL cinema, check this one out as soon as possible. You won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: I only ask... what in the hell is this?
Review: From what I'd heard this was supposed to be a comedy... I found nothing comical about it... it started out fine but the constant drumming sounds and the horrid plot were enough to drive anyone to insanity. By the end of the film myself and another I was watching it with were about ready to break the TV, it seemed to just grind our nerves with the constant drumming over and over again. The plotine is horrible, it got to the end and it's like "WHAT?!" THis is just terrible... if you have a high bloodpressure, do NOT watch this film, it WILL give you a higher one believe me. Worst Adam Sandler film ever, it made me almost think twice about seeing Anger Management a few days ago. Sandler is great, but this is a waste of money, time and will definately cause some unwanted stress. Save yourself the stress and trouble and get another sandler film instead.
Rating: 
Summary: ADAM SANDLER'S FUNNIEST MOVIE IN A WHILE
Review: THIS STRANGE COMEDY CHRONICLES A STRANGE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A SMALL-TIME BUSINESSMAN [ADAM SANDLER] AND A WOMAN THAT WAS INTRODUCED TO HIM BY HIS SISTER. I GOTTA ADMIT, THIS IS PROBABLY ADAM SANDLER'S FUNNIEST FILM IN YEARS. THERE ARE SOME FUNNY MOMENTS, BUT LET'S FACE IT, SOME OF IT'S ALSO STUPID. HOWEVER, IT DEFINITELY EXCEEDED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS. AN ACCEPTABLE RUNNING TIME AND ENOUGH HUMOR MAKES THIS RATE AS AN ACCEPTABLE MOVIE.
Rating:
Summary: A film of quiet magnitude
Review: For those who are familiar with Adam Sandler's other movies, Punch Drunk love is a reality check. Imagine, if you will, that you actually knew someone like Billy Madison or the Waterboy; that you actually had him as a neighbor or a co-worker. Chances are, against the backdrop of real life, you would find him weird, pathetic, maybe even a little annoying. That is who Barry Egan is. The protagonist of Punch Drunk Love is every lovable loser Sandler has ever played, except that here, no one actually finds him lovable until one day when two things suddenly drop into his life: a gramaphone and a girl named Lena. And he finds love and true happiness because of these two things. Punch Drunk Love is a bizarre story. It is funny in the same way the movies Adaptation and Being John Malkovich and Wonder Boys were funny, which means it has a sad kind of comedy. The humor is found in the strange things that loneliness drives Barry to do; the scene where he calls the phone sex line is so awkward that it is hilarious. Philip Seymour Hoffman steals most of the laughs from Sandler in his role as the man who runs the phone sex service; Sandler provokes the tears instead. Emily Watson shows an almost maternal affection in her performance as Lena, and she is wonderful. Luis Guzman is very likable as Barry's assistant Lance, but the best supporting performances go to the actresses who play Barry's seven sisters. They are wicked and abusive without ever seeming to recognize that abnormality of their behavior. Punch Drunk Love is the only movie that I still laugh out loud and cry repeatedly every time I watch it, and though it is not for everyone, it is truly a work of cinematic art.
Rating:
Summary: i liked it
Review: it's funny, i mean how people can be smart but be so stupid. they have an excellent understanding of lexis and can express it wonderfully but they can't grasp other concepts like, well the name of the title is punch drunk love, right? so well does it have to be so rational as to why things happen? and sometimes the best things in life can't be explained right? if someone loves me i don't have to question why they just do and the same when i love someone else. and it just seems like the random acts of violence is just a visual cue for these unexplainable phenomenon's . i don't know maybe i'm just looking for water an empty well. but i really liked it.
Rating:
Summary: so beautiful
Review: i saw the movie last night for the third time. It's definitely one of the best film i've ever seen in my life. I love everything in it, characters, music... I could never imagine i could cry and laugh 5 minutes after like i did when i saw this magnificent movie. I wanna thank the director because it has changed the way i see the world. I will never get rid of that DVD and i think i'm gonna buy a second one just in case.
I don't need to tell the story, just watch it, you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Directionless Directing...
Review: While I'm not a fan of Adam Sandler, I've been meaning to check out this movie for ages, since reading that this is Adam's attempt to go straight. Sadly I found myself disappointed.
Sandler plays the same vaguely-retarded character given to acts of random violence that he has played a million other times in his career; see Mr Deeds, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison etc. The only difference is that here he doesn't get to say "Boobies!" and snicker a lot. The character he plays is more sympathetic than usual, but still the same lost little boy, out of touch with the world, down trodden and taken advantage of. Here he makes some sort of decision to stand up for himself, but the character is so ill-conceived and poorly developed that we never really gain an insight into the changes he seems to undergo. Yes he realizes he loves this new girl, but why? Why is she different to any other girl he's met and been afraid to talk to? Why can he now stand up to his sisters? Why does he now become impulsive and outgoing?
The female lead is similarly undeveloped. As other reviewers note, her attraction to and love for Sandler is never really touched upon, her motives never explored and her reasons never ascertained.
On the positive side, the cinematography is beautiful. The movie looks really great, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding as usual. However, instead of making a compelling piece of art such as "American Beauty" by Sam Mendes, Anderson ends up creating a willfully obscure piece of work in the vein of David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive". Another obvious reference would be "Donnie Darko", however in that movie the underlying themes carry the random acts that happen, while in "Punch...", as in "Magnolia" the randomness is left unexplained, ultimately seeming superfluous - an attempt at being post-modern without following through. For example, the car crash at the start of the movie that Sandler witnesses? Hello?
Ultimately the movie is well put together and beautifully shot, but it suffers from a certain lack of direction and an absence of real meaning at its core, and I have to say I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. Not unless I particularly disliked them.
As for Sandler's Oscar hopes, I have to say that his "Wedding Singer" character was much better written, and ultimately much more demanding.
Rating:
Summary: Oh So Important
Review: A somewhat irritating exercise in self-indulgence from the usually great PT Anderson. I mean, I love films with symbolism, theme & stylization, but not when I can I can practically hear the director in the background of every shot screaming "I'M A GREAT DIRECTOR! LOOK AT MY WORK OF ART!" Apparently, Punch-Drunk Love is some sort of American rip of Jean Pierre Jeunet's Amelie, with a similar plot line involving 2 dysfunctional individuals seeking love -- both films with a "dark" subplot which threatens the central character's pursuit & realization of that union (Amelie w/the picture booth, PDL w/ the phone sex gang)... Some sort of masturbatory filmmaking by the "in crowd" of Hollywood, PDL seems more concerned with tooting its own horn & parading is "artistry" than building strong or remotely interesting narrative & characters... And I don't think that breaking genre coventions has to be a painful viewing experience. Where Amelie provided history & background to support the pathos of the leads & empathy, PDL provides none. The film is so cruel to Emily Watson's character, that it doesn't even give a clue as to her inexplicable attraction to Sandler's character, except maybe some sort of twisted autistic fetish (?!) The air is a bit too thick with pretense for my taste, and I just can't bring myself to contribute another laurel to Anderson's pile of collective hubris.
Rating:
Summary: Sandler in "Love"
Review: "You've gotta hope that there's someone for you,
As strange as you are.
Who can cope with the things that you do,
Without trying to hard."
-- songwriter/composer, Jon Brion, "Here We Go"
The best thing about this movie is that it's one of the ten best movies of the year. The worst thing about this movie is that most people won't understand why it stands on a pedestal of such greatness, much less understand or identify with the emotionally tortured character played by Adam Sandler. Mostly, they won't get why Sandler isn't talking with a goofy-voice, performing outrageous slapstick, or chasing non-existent penguins around a swimming pool. That's because Sandler is showing that, perhaps, under his puckish exterior, he has some valid talent. Declaring this performance an Oscar-winner may be jumping the gun just a bit...but it's damn close. Sandler plays a lonely little man who is constantly dressed in a blue suit with a white shirt and orange tie. When asked why he's dressed so formal by his friend and co-worker (Luis Guzman), his answer is simple: "I felt like dressing up." He's perfectly ready to be defensive when he has to be and his body-language shows he's on guard...even though he runs the place he works at. Such is the life of one Barry Egan, a man who does his best to have a great career and a good life. So what is his problem? Underneath it all, Egan is a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode. He lives alone, craves female companionship (but unleashes his sexual frustrations on phone-sex workers who cannot see who or what he is), and is always looking to one-up his overbearing family...all female and all his sisters. He's a mess. One of his sisters constantly reminds him of his inability to stand up for himself: "Remember when we called you 'gay-boy'? You used to get so mad!" Yes, so mad indeed. Egan ends up destroying the plate-glass inside a sliding-glass door during a birthday party thrown by his sisters, kicking it into tiny shards and then tries to talk to one of his brother-in-laws about the incident. All goes well until Barry is reminded that his brother-in-law is a doctor...but his degree is in dentistry. Such is the life of one Barry Egan. Perhaps this is why he can't find the perfect female companion to be with: his fear and hatred of the same women that drove him crazy at an early age. Strangely enough, Barry is introduced to Lena (Emily Watson), a woman who may just understand his psychosis and be able to work with it. Ironically enough, Barry is given this opportunity by one of his witchy sisters who even has the audacity to tear him apart in front of Lena with several questions: "Why are you collecting all those pudding cups? Why do you have a piano on your desk? Why can't you come have some food with us? What is going on? Are you okay?" The answers come slowly but surely as Lena begins to date Barry and together, the two of them begin a journey into an unknown land where nothing is for sure. That's where the movie does a complete 180. This isn't your normal romantic comedy. Given the circumstances, the build-up, and the characters, the film is quite wonderfully different. It's dreamlike, surreal, and just quirky. It wasn't made from the same tired formula used to spit out a million droning Meg Ryan romantic-comedies. This is truly an original piece of work and should be judged as such. Forget what you know about romantic comedies even though you have seen so many. This is a filmic poem for those who are afraid to come out of their shell for fear of rejection and judgement. It TRULY makes you believe that you can be loved no matter who or what you are. The score accents the feeling of the movie. Jon Brion's main theme swells with warmth and beauty. Hell, Shelley Duvall's famous "He Needs Me" is worked into the score and many will say it doesn't fit within the frame of the picture. I tend to disagree. It fits because it describes what the character is feeling. It's quirky and sung in an longingly out-of-tune manner, not only capturing the hopelessness of Barry Egan but his hopefulness as well. Brilliant use of music. Kudos to director Paul Thomas Anderson for scoring another hit. --Matt
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